Midlothian

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  St Mary's, Dalkeith
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  Newbattle Abbey College
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  Luxurious Hotels and Holiday Accommodatin

Attractions and Places to Visit

Less than ten miles south of Edinburgh city centre, Midlothian is blessed with scenic countryside, topical heritage and outstanding sports facilities.

The Pentland Hills provide a stunning backdrop to the area and is home to a variety of local wildlife not to mention walkers, cyclists and riders. It encompases more than 10,000 acres of countryside and over 100km of paths and trails.

Midlothian is also home to the world famous Rosslyn Chapel. The Chapel recently found fame in Dan Brown's controversial book, The Da Vinci Code. Founded in 1446, this beautiful building is still used today as a place of worship by locals.

The imposing Crichton Castle is also based in Midlothian, as is Newbattle Abbey and number of local castles - such as Dalhousie Castle now offering everything from luxuary accomodation to spa treatments. But there's more to Midlothian than historical buildings, the area is also home to the UK's largest artificial (dry) skislope.

With excellent local amenities - Midlothian has a number of small, well established towns, and is very close to the capital city, making it the ideal location for a rural activity break.

The main towns all have good public transportation links with the city and there is a network of paths and trails throughout the local area making it easy to get out and about to explore Midlothian.

History

Midlothian (Meadhan Lodainn in Gaelic) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. It borders the Scottish Borders, East Lothian and the City of Edinburgh council areas. The council area was created in 1996, under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, with the boundaries of the Midlothian district of the Lothian region. The district had been created in 1975, under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, and it consisted of the local government county of Midlothian, minus the burgh of Musselburgh and Calder, Cramond, Currie and Inveresk areas.

The Battle of Roslin was a battle of the First War of Scottish Independence, taking place on 24 February 1303 at Roslin, Scotland. A Scottish army led by Simon Fraser and John Comyn defeated the English. Although a significant action, only a few hundred men, all of them heavy cavalry, were involved on either side. The English force was raised in Northumberland and was tasked with intervening in support of the occupation forces of Edward I. The much smaller Scottish force rode through the night from Biggar, intercepted them and defeated them in two, possibly three, sharp fights. The site of the battle has been said to be the field opposite the old and new burial grounds. Members of the Comyn, Fraser and possibly Sinclair families fought at the Battle of Roslin.

*History details taken from Wikipedia

*Attraction information courtesy of Midlothian Council